"Accept it or not, but Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Aditya Dhar have spoiled the brains of Indian filmmakers," Aavishkar, a movie buff, commented on X, hours after the theatrical arrival of Yash's Toxic. What have the two film directors got to do with what Toxic offers or doesn't offer?
We must focus on the criticisms against Vanga and Dhar (of Dhurandhar fame) to answer this. Following the box-office dominance of Kabir Singh (the Hindi remake of Arjun Reddy) and Animal, many directors began imitating Vanga's reliance on shock value, extreme aggression, unfiltered masculinity, and provocative dialogue. The critique against Dhar is that, after Uri and Dhurandhar, other directors now prioritize technical slickness, relentless tension, and stylized action set-pieces.
Toxic is weak on the emotional front. Yash's Raya and Ticket are static, many feel. Its director Geetu Mohandas and actor-producer Yash (who is believed to have decided the film's style) took the wrong lessons from the Vanga-Dhar duo. Vanga and Dhar are not guilty of sidestepping emotional storytelling and character development.
